Using diamonds on your concrete grinder adds the grit you need to remove thick coatings like mastic or epoxy, and create a rough profile. However, if you’re grinding dry on hard concrete, the diamonds can glaze over, dulling their rough abrasive ability, preventing you from getting the results you need, and leading to longer hours spent on your surface preparation.
Check out the video below to see exactly how to open your diamonds or prevent them from glazing over, or keep reading to learn more!
What Causes Diamonds to Glaze?
Diamonds protrude from the pad slightly, cutting through coatings and creating a profile with a heavy scratch pattern. When grinding softer concrete or using water, the continued abrasion keeps the diamonds sharp. However, when using diamonds on a very hard, dry concrete, there isn’t any abrasion to keep the diamonds open and cutting into the concrete.
If you don’t open the diamonds back up, the problem will worsen until it reaches the point where your grinder will only polish or shine the surface rather than grind or profile the area.
How to Open Diamonds That Glaze
If the concrete you’re grinding doesn’t offer the abrasive surface necessary to keep the diamonds open, you can add it by using silica sand or water. Water is a preferable option because it offers less wear than adding silica on the diamonds, but if you can’t grind it wet, then use silica sand. A secondary abrasive will keep your diamonds cutting the way the need to and performing as though they are fresh out of the box.
It is important to know that adding an abrasive can shorten the lifespan of your diamonds, but the trade-off is you will save hours of labor and get a better outcome than if you tried to work with diamonds that have glazed over.
Contact Us for High Quality Concrete Grinder Accessories
If you need diamonds or other materials used for cutting and grinding concrete, we have a wide selection of floor grinding accessories to choose from. We also have repair kits and maintenance kits to keep it working in tip-top condition. To learn more about our grinder parts and see which ones are right for your needs, reach out to us today at (815) 472-9754 or fill out our contact form to get started!